4 best JavaScript date libraries
TLDR;
The best JavaScript date libraries in 3 different criteria is summarized at the bottom [Conclusion section]
The most popular package
Moment.js 👏
12M weekly Downloads
The lightest package
dayJS 👏
471 KB
The most stable package
Moment.js 👏
9 years
Moment.js
Moment.js is one the oldest and best known date — related libraries for both Node.js and vanilla Javascript (making it browser compatible)
Weekly Downloads *NPM
12M
License
MIT
Package Size (Unpacked Size)
40.9 MB
Initial Release Date
Version 1.1.0 release Date — — — 9 Years ago
Current Version — — — 2.26.0
UPs 👍
- available in many different environments and different package managers including npm , yarn , NuGet, spm, meteor
- very stable and reliable; been used by many software engineers for more than 9 years
- very good browser compatibility; available in Windows 7
DOWNs 👇
- It is slow
It took Moment.js almost 9 seconds to parse 100 000 ISO 8601 dates, while Day.js needs only 0.5 seconds
- It is heavy
Longer loading time means lower user experience and worse SEO
Cheatsheet
Parsing
Formatting
Add
Internationalization
date-fns
date-fns provides the most comprehensive, yet simple and consistent toolset for manipulating JavaScript dates in a browser & Node.js
Weekly Downloads *NPM
6M
License
MIT
Package Size (Unpacked Size)
11 MB
Initial Release Date
Version 0.1.0 release Date — — — 6 Years ago
Current Version — — — 2.14.0
UPs 👍
- All functions are grouped by file, allowing users to import just what you need. Optimization especially for front-end developers
- good internationalization; support a total of 57 different locales
Cheatsheet
compareDesc
format / internationalization
format Distance
dayJS
DayJS is a.k.a minified version of Moment.js. DayJS uses the same API of Moment.js but reduces its file size by 97%
Weekly Downloads *NPM
2M
License
MIT
Package Size (Unpacked Size)
471 KB
Initial Release Date
Version 1.0.0 release Date — — — 2 Years ago
Current Version — — — 1.8.27
UPs 👍
- very light; while Moment.js full minified file weights a total of 67.9KB, DayJS minified file is only 2kb while supporting core functions of Moment.js (internationalization, plugins etc…)
- Moment.js-compatible API; basically if you use Moment.js, you already know how to use Day.js
Cheatsheet
add / substract
format
Luxon
Luxon provides a much easier and comprehensive interface than the native types it wraps
Weekly Downloads *NPM
60K
License
MIT
Package Size (Unpacked Size)
2.96 MB
Initial Release Date
Version 0.0.1 release Date — — — 3 Years ago
Current Version — — — 1.24.1
UPs 👍
- All objects are immutable; easy to debug (Moment.js mutates the object)
- relies heavily on the Intl API from modern browsers; do not need extra configuration files to deal with locales
DOWNs 👇
- do not support all features Moment.js support
- not compatible with older browsers; need polyfill
Cheatsheet
Internationalization
parse from ISO 8601
CONCLUSION
POPULARITY RANKING
PACKAGE SIZE RANKING (desc.)
RELEASE DATE RANKING (asc.)
Happy Coding 🙌
